<p>Regarding notification, I do believe those SF who did not make Finalist are notified before Finalists (as were Commended who didn't make SF). Last year, my d also found out she made NMF from a university (Texas A&M) before she received her official letter. They sent her a big congratulations letter with an updated (additional) scholarship offer. We were so confused...but apparently colleges have access to the list of NMFs before the letters are rec'd.</p>
<p>I'm really anxious about this. I would love NMF status because I will then get a full ride to my top choice school. My counselor hasn't mentioned anything to me but she also forgot to tell me I was NMSF too so I'm not sure how reliable she is.</p>
<p>We haven't heard and our GC is very reliable. Hold on, TangyTart; I think the info isn't quite out there yet.</p>
<p>Ok, well, I'm somewhat of a packrat, so I happen to have my D's letters from last year. Perhaps it'll help with figuring out the timing this year. The letter telling her she was a finalist was dated February 8th. The one telling her she was selected for one of the National Merit $2,500 Scholarships was dated March 23rd. That March letter had something in it that told her she was not allowed to talk to the media about it until NMSC had released the information on May 3rd. Not like there were a lot of reporters at our door wondering if anyone in our home had gotten a scholarship.</p>
<p>I called the NM office today and asked if notices had already been sent out to all students who were not selected. The lady I talked with laughed and said that I had obviously been reading "unofficial websites". She said they only notify students who are selected and nothing is sent to other students.</p>
<p>^Glad we didn't know that LAST year RTMom. We were banking on the 'no news is good news' rumor...lol! At least it kept us stress free for a few weeks. ;)</p>
<p>RTMom - I personally know a kid who is a semi finalist and was informed several weeks ago that she did not make finalist. Maybe the lady you talked to meant they don't tell them if they have not received the actual scholarship. As I said my Ds friend was already informed officially by letter that she did not move on from semi to finalist.</p>
<p>Also Washdad - a regular cc poster - says his son already found out he was not selected.</p>
<p>^To corroborate swimcatsmom; at the end of last January, our gc did tell us not to worry...that if our kids had not progressed to finalist, we would have received a letter.</p>
<p>While our kids are waiting to be notified, how about a question: How much of a "hook" is NMF status? For instance, D applied to three reach schools (no Ivies). One of them participates in National Merit, and the other two don't. So, the two that don't participate, they won't care at all if D is NMF?</p>
<p>Or, another way of looking at it is, if a certain school doesn't participate, why not? Does the school think that NM has no value? Or maybe the school doesn't give merit scholarships, period? Any thoughts?</p>
<p>It seems to me that many schools who do not participate, esp. the more prestigious ones, don't give out scholarships for one, or both, of two reasons: 1) They have a policy against merit aid (Ivies etc.) or 2)They have some many finalists that it becomes impractical to give scholarships to a majority of the school population. NMF is certainly a wonderful honor, but it is not enough to be considered a hook.</p>
<p>Well, it's certainly a major hook at the schools that give full-ride scholarships for it. There are other schools that prominantly mention how many NM finalists they have. For those schools, I would have to think it's a tip. And it is a National level award--that should mean something. It's just not enough to be a hook to the most highly selective schools because it is so common in their applicant pools.</p>
<p>My S got several Cs in his junior year & still made NMF, so I wouldn't worry about one C in sophomore year. They just want to see that the kid isn't relaly slacking. The reason my S got his Cs was because he was missing LOTS of school due to chronic health issues. He ended up doing just fine in terms of his college acceptances & merit aid & NMF. He's also getting better grades in college than he got in his ubercompetitive HS & healthier too!</p>
<p>I'm a parent of 3 past NMF, and one current semi-finalist (my youngest kid)...no notification yet, assuming she'll be a finalist also-all indicators are right for it, anyway. As to the question about non-participating schools: what we've found with all four kids, spanning from 1997 until now is that although a lot of schools do not officially participate (i.e., they're not listed as sponsor-schools) there actually are a lot of schools which offer at least partial scholarships, usually for at least 1/2 tuition, some for full tuition, and some for near-to or actual full-rides. For example, in Nebraska, only the main campus of Univ of Ne- Lincoln offers an official "National Merit Scholarship" award (a typical offer for a NMF at UNL is a scholarship package with Regents/Honors combo scholarships that come very close to a full-ride, usually covering most expenses including room & board...student may have $1000 or so a year to pay out of pocket.) The other Univ of Nebraska schools are not listed as actual Natl Merit schools, but all of them offer essentially the same type of package to NMF as UNL, they just don't call it a Natl Merit Scholarship. Private schools which do not officially participate often offer substantial scholarships to NMF: we found it works well on the college's websites to enter "National Merit Finalists" in the search box. Quite often, it'll pop you right to the scholarship page and you'll be able to see what
they offer.</p>
<p>washdad-how do you know your son's not a finalist?</p>
<p>Commended Scholars were not notified first, we had three kids at my school (including myself) that were notified last May about NMSC. I got my SF notification three weeks before I was allowed to say anything, and then even after I was on our school TV with the principal about the award, the two guys still thought their notification was "lost in the mail" or it was a mistake...Even a month or two later. </p>
<p>I do think it is a bit cruel that they don't notify them until a few weeks later, it gives false hope.</p>
<p>So, when does the NMF information get released?</p>
<p>There is a link somewhere in the voluminous CC discussion forums that leads to the actual counselors "National Merit Scholarship Corporation 2006-07 Important Dates for Schools". I am constantly amazed at what you can find on this site! Anyway, here are the dates that have not passed that are listed:</p>
<p>February 2 - Principals are mailed notification of their 2007 National Merit Program Semifinalists who have advanced to Finalist standing, and certificates for presentation to them.</p>
<p>February 23 - 2007 Achievement Scholarship offers are mailed to recipients' home addresses and notification is sent to their principals.</p>
<p>March 9 - NMSC begins mailing offers to 2007 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners and Special Scholarship winners at their home addresses and notification to their principals.</p>
<p>March 22 - NMSC begins mailing award offers to 2007 National Merit $2500 Scholarship recipients at their home addresses and notification to their principals.</p>
<p>April 4 - Media release date for 2007 winners of Achievment Scholarship awards.</p>
<p>April 25 - NMSC begins mailing 2007 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship offers to winners at their home addresses and notification to their principals</p>
<p>April 18, May 2, May 23, and July 9 - Media release dates for 2007 Merit Scholarship winners.</p>
<p>Whew! </p>
<p>Right now, we're concentrating on one date at a time. Have our eye on February 2nd, hoping daughter will advance to finalist!!</p>
<p>Thank you Midwest Parent!</p>
<p>I'd suggest having your eye on a date a few days later than Feb. 2nd. As I noted earlier, last year the letters to the NMFs (the students, not the principals) were mailed February 8th. They didn't actually arrive till several days later. And for some reason, the other 5 NMF's at my D's school got theirs about four days before my D did, even though they bore the same postmark. You just never know what the U.S. Postal Service might do to torture you while you wait!</p>
<p>Midwest parent...for actual naming of Finalists, notification is mailed to high schools on 2/2; then notice is mailed directly to students (home address) on 2/7/07. (years ago, they did not notify students directly, they only notified schools...but too many students were not getting the information passed on, so now they notify both the high school and the student separately.) Scholarship awards are later (both those from colleges and the actual NM Scholarships.) See link to actual National Merit brochure below for other details--page 4 of the brochure has a calendar breakdown.</p>